Archive for August 2008
Parents’ and Supporters’ guide
Posted on August 8th, 2008 by Matt
I went over to a university today for a Campus Tour, as I thought I should get on with something having left everything back at halls. It was a very nice tour, and they even gave us a “goody bag” containing some badges, a pen, the prospectus, and some smaller booklets. I also met a 16-year-old girl who had just finished her GCSEs and was effectively going to some visit days to start shortlisting potential universities – a brilliant idea, start early and find out as much as possible!
I’ve been reading the guide aimed at parents, because they usually summarise all of the useful information from everywhere else into a much smaller size. A few things stuck out at me, and I’ll point them out below, as well as expland on them.
Some young people are more independent than others, but your son or daughter will settle into university life more easily if they have certain basic practical skills, such as being able to do their own laundry, clean their room and cook a few basic meals.
Very true. Amongst that, other key points include being able to read a map (namely the campus one), budget effectively (rent does not pay itself), remember things (like the code for the front door), wash dishes (no university has fairies that can be booked out), iron (unless you like wearing creased clothes), and – most importantly – make a decent cup of tea (this, of course, being essential when it comes to meeting new housemates).
Buying a Young Persons 16-25 Railcard (?24 for 2008) will save a lot of money if your son or daughter will be travelling by train. It provides discounts of one-third on most rail travel in britain.
Not only that, but I even know of one route that does 50% off for students! Don’t forget that almost every medical school is close enough to a principal railway station to make it a viable option for going home. Purchasing tickets in advance with a railcard is an excellent way to save money – personally, I can travel first class (return) for ?40 on a journey that would cost me in excess of ?200 for standard open tickets)!
The University holds undergraduate open days in the summer and autumn of each year, providing a real taste of what life is like at the University
You can check our Online Diary to find out when all of these are taking place. And don’t forget to check the invidual websites too, as some of them will even let you stay in halls the night before the open day! I really recommend you go to at least one, just so that you get a good insight into the medical course. But, personally, I wouldn’t choose a university without looking at it first!
Matt says: Read as much information as you can get your hands on, even the unlikely stuff!
No Comments »What you need to know
Posted on August 7th, 2008 by Rob
Today I had a further induction day. This was much more fun than my first day though. Today we were basically taught on two courses. We had a morning course on how to resuscitate a new baby. The afternoon was about how to resuscitate a pregnant woman. Even though I?ve done lots of resuscitation training before I really learnt a lot.
No Comments »The Doctors mess
Posted on August 7th, 2008 by Rob
Every hospital has a doctor?s mess. The mess varies greatly from hospital to hospital. As a med student I always thought that it was just a room to sit and drink coffee but now I know it?s so much more. I?ve seen about 10 messes during my 6 years at medical school and they have all been different. The worst was a tiny room with hard chairs and falling to pieces kitchen with dirty cups. My current hospital has the best mess I?ve ever seen. It has loads of room, nice soft sofas, massive TV, sky, play station, pool table, great kitchen and kind of a balcony.
The mess is where you go when you need to take 10. A place to chat to other doctors (about nothing really) or a place to sit and read the days paper. When I got my paperwork before starting work I had to fill in hundreds of forms. One of these forms was an agreement for the HR department to take ?18 from my wages every month for the mess. At the time I thought that was a bit steep, but not anymore. I did a few calculations based on observations. The mess gets a box of fruit delivered daily. I saw it being delivered and I counted the fruit. Based on Tesco prices the yearly fruit bill will be approximately ?4000. As well as fruit the mess is always stocked with tea, coffee, milk, cereal, fresh bread, margarine, daily newspapers, and peanut butter. The expenses must be massive.
After my last post on Tuesday night all the new doctors in the hospital went for a night out at Pizza Express in town. It was agreed that we would order what we wanted and then split the bill equally, however when the time came to pay the bill we were told that the doctors mess had already covered it! Cheers guys.
4 Comments »Newcastle
Posted on August 7th, 2008 by Matt
I’ll start by saying I’m not actually applying to Newcastle! I know its a really good medical school and all that, but I live in the area already, and although I really do love the North East, I think my time at university would be better spent in another part of the country.
Why I’ve called this Newcastle is because, as far as I know so far, the next Newcastle University visit day will be the first of the MedicalAdmissions.co.uk face-to-face advertising sessions! If you don’t know when this is, our ‘Diary‘ will tell you…
So, if you’re visiting the university to find out more about its medical course, or are just in the area generally, come and find me! I’ll be wherever there is a talk related to medicine (maybe even sitting at the back of one or two of them trying to pick up some tips for the site). If you’re wondering what I look like – check the ‘About us‘ page – or play spot the MedicalAdmissions.co.uk ID Card which I’ll have attached to me somewhere…
Matt says: Come and say “hello”, I don’t bite!
No Comments »Gynae on-take
Posted on August 6th, 2008 by Rob
For those who are unsure Gynaecology is a surgical speciality that deals with the female pelvic organs. It is a massive field covering, infertility, contraception, menstruation, pelvic cancers (e.g. cervical cancer), sterilization, sexually transmitted diseases, incontinence, sexual health, menopause, and key hole surgery just to name a few. Most gynaecologists are also obstetricians. Obstetricians are doctors that look after pregnant women and the foetus before it?s born.
Today was my day to look after all the women on the gynaecology ward. This is any woman who has had surgery, or who was going to have surgery or who was acutely unwell with a gynaecology problem (e.g. ectopic pregnancy, painful ovarian mass). There are 10 consultant gynaecologists at my hospital and they all have patients on the gynae ward. I had to look after all their patients. They would arrive on the ward at any time with their registrar and I would have to have a list of their patients and a pile of their patient?s notes. I would then follow them around while they see their patients. They would chat to the patient then give me a list of jobs to do (e.g. write her up for x drug, or get some bloods). I would make a list of jobs from each mini-ward round and then get on with the jobs until the next consultant arrived to do her ward round. Any patient that the consultant said could go home needed several forms filling out before they could go (called TTAs (to take away)). Then if a nurse was worried about a patient I had to go and see them. If a patient felt sick was in pain or felt generally ill I had to see them. If a GP felt that his patient was ill he would call me and I would have to accept his referral. The patient would come to the ward and I would have to do a full clerking in. This was the busiest day of my life. I was supposed to go home at 5pm and I didn?t get away until 8pm. I had great fun though.
No Comments »MedicalAdmissions.co.uk Blog is powered by WordPress.